The best carrot cake EVER!

Let me start by saying that I have tried a LOT of carrot cakes in my time. There is a muffin top of the metaphorical variety, upon which I look down each day, which serves to prove that fact admirably. My children, and the pregnancies during which they 'occupied' that part of my body, are only around 70% responsible for its current appearance. The remaining 30% must be attributed to several addictions, of which carrot cake is just one.

When I have made carrot cake myself, I have occasionally strayed from my usual path, but I always find myself returning to this recipe. I have tried a number of alternatives over the years, but none of them came close. I don't know why I bothered trying them to be honest, since this recipe came from my mother. Mum is an amazing cook - the kind of cook who produces a three course meal, satisfying numerous predilections and special diets simultaneously, with multiple components, all miraculously ready at precisely the right time, and all without breaking a sweat. Add to that, that she seems to make less than half the mess I always create in the kitchen when simply making a sandwich, and you can see why I admire her so much. I also hold her, in no insignificant regard, responsible for my own love of cooking and baking. I remember many happy hours spent 'helping' her by stirring things on the stove (including those things where the recipe stated explicitly that they should be left undisturbed), and even more hours spent licking every last molecule of cake batter from her mixing bowl. I try to remember these formative 'helping' moments, when my own children want to join me in the kitchen (but did I mention how much mess I can make on my own? Imagine what damage underage Farrars could do en masse!)

I should add that this is not your usual carrot cake - I find traditional carrot cake can be dry, and this is quite possibly the most moist cake your taste buds will ever have the pleasure of touching, surprisingly so since it is made with wholemeal flour. This is also often not the prettiest cake on the block - I have found that it usually sinks slightly in the middle, so it might not win you a cake contest based on looks alone. Now, no one ever argues with the superiority of moist over dry. Over the years, I have, thanks to personal experience, grown to be more accepting of saggy middles (see above), and in any case, once you've tasted it, you will forgive this cake its slightly sunken center. But where the other key variation is concerned, I have been met with more than a few suspicious frowns over the years, and occasionally a flash of anticipatory disappointment. Rather than being slathered with thick cream cheese frosting, this cake is delicately daubed with a mixture of apricot jam and lemon juice and dotted with walnuts. Now, suspend your anxiety - I assure you that this is worth a try. The acidity of the topping cuts the sweet moist cakiness of the carroty goodness below. Honestly... go on... live dangerously! And if Mum and I don't win you over, then you can always slather the same cake recipe below with cream cheese frosting, and it will be just as moist and delicious, I'm sure.

Carrot Cake
(makes a 7" round cake, 2" deep)

Cake:
8oz light soft brown sugar
6 fl oz canola oil
2 eggs
4 oz wholemeal flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
5 oz coarsely grated carrots
2 oz chopped walnuts

Topping:
2 TBSP apricot jam
1 TBSP lemon juice
2 oz chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Spray a 7" tin (preferably springform), at least 2.5" deep, with canola oil spray, and line bottom with parchment paper.
3. Put sugar in a mixing bowl and gradually beat in the canola oil, then the eggs, one at a time.
4. Mix together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon in a small bowl.
5. Add to sugar/oil/egg mixture and stir until combined.
6. Stir in carrots and walnuts.
7. Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake in center of oven for approximately 1 hour 10 minutes, until cake is firm to the touch and risen.
8. Let cake stand in its tin for 3 minutes, and then turn it out onto a cooling rack.
9. To make topping, boil jam and lemon juice together in a small pan on the stove for 2-3 minutes.
10. Use a brush to immediately spread over the cake (doesn't have to be completely cool when you do this), then dot the walnuts over the top straight away so that they stick to the top.